Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and her navigator were executed by the Japanese government to avoid an international incident, and the US played along, a shocking theory claims.

The theory says Earhart, who was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and navigator Fred Noonan were killed on the island of Saipan, now a US commonwealth, after their disappearance in 1937 has been around for more than 50 years now.

But now claims have emerged that Earhart's body was retrieved by the US military - which may have hidden her killing to keep the peace, the Pacific Daily News reported.